Pittsburgh Railways
}} Pittsburgh Railways was one of the predecessors of the Port Authority of Allegheny County. It had 666 PCC cars, the third largest fleet in North America. It had 68 street car routes, of which only three (until April 5, 2010 the 42 series, the 47 series, and 52) are used by the Port Authority as light rail routes. With the Port Authority's Transit Development Plan, many route names will be changed to its original, such as the 41D Brookline becoming the 39 Brookline. Many of the streetcar routes have been remembered in the route names of many Port Authority buses (e.g. 71 series). History 1895 to 1905 was a time of consolidation for the numerous street railways serving Pittsburgh. On July 24, 1895 the Consolidated Traction Company was chartered and the following year acquired the Central Traction Company, Citizens Traction Company, Duquesne Traction Company and Pittsburgh Traction Company and converted them to electric operation. On July 27, 1896 the United Traction Company was chartered and absorbed the Second Avenue Traction Company, which had been running electric cars since 1890. The Southern Traction Company acquired the lease of the West End Traction Company on October 1, 1900. Pittsburgh Railways was formed on January 1, 1902, when the Southern Traction Company acquired operating rights over the Consolidated Traction Company and United Traction Company. The new company operated 1,100 trolleys on of track, with 178.7 million passengers and revenues of $6.7 million on the year. The Pittsburgh Railway had over 20 car barns located around the city as well as power stations.See Rohrbeck, Benson. "Pittsburg's Car Barns 1900-1909" (1971), which contains maps and photos of these structures. 1918 was the company's peak year, operating 99 trolley routes over of track. Unfortunately the lease and operate business model proved hard to support and the company declared bankruptcy twice, first in 1918 lasting for 6 years and then again in 1938, this time lasting until January 1, 1951. Costs to the company rose in the early twentieth century. PRC faced constant pressure from the city to improve equipment and services. Workers walked out when a pay raise was rejected. On July 26, 1936 Pittsburgh Railways took delivery of PCC streetcar No. 100 from the St. Louis Car Company. It was placed in revenue service in August 1936, the first revenue earning PCC in the world. Large scale abandonments of lines began in the late 1950s, usually associated with highway or bridge work. Duquesne-McKeesport Highway improvements in the Duquesne-McKeesport area resulted in the replacement of trolley services with buses on September 21, 1958. West End lines The replacement of the Point Bridge with the Fort Pitt Bridge precipitated the abandonment of many routes to the West End, all on June 21, 1959. Pittsburgh Railways Company was engaged in ongoing litigation over the failure of the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to provide streetcar tracks on the new bridge. In the end the company was allowed to abandon of street track in situ and was awarded $300,000 as compensation. However, this was the beginning of the end for trolleys in Pittsburgh and would be followed by the abandonment of 90% of the network over the next 10 years. Interurban Pittsburgh Railways Interurban Division ran an interurban trolley system linking Pittsburgh with towns in Washington County such as Washington, Charleroi and Roscoe. Charleroi The origins of the Charleroi interurban line began in 1895 in Monongahela City, with the construction of a small street railway by the Monongahela City Street Railway Company. In 1900 the line was extended north to Riverview and in 1901 extended south to Black Diamond Mine. Here it turned inland, south along Black Dam Hollow (the old private right of way is now known as Trolley Lane). It met the northern end of the newly constructed (1899) Charleroi & West Side Street Railway at the now disused Lock number 4 in North Charleroi. The Charleroi interurban line was cut back to the Allegheny County border at Library (Simmons loop) in June 1953 It continued to run until the 1980s as 35 Shannon-Library and became the southern portion of 47L Library via Overbrook when Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) replaced trolleys. The trolley loop was removed in 2004. In 2010 this line became the Blue Line – Library. Washington The Washington line was cut back to the county boundary at Drake in August 1953 and eventually became the 36 Shannon-Drake. This in turn became the southern portion of 42 South Hills Village (excluding the new link from Dorchester to South Hills Village, which was built in 1984). The final portion of the interurban from Dorchester to Drake was renamed 47 Drake, finally closing in 1999 and bringing to an end PCC Streetcar operation in Pittsburgh. Diversification The company acquired G. Barr & Co., a manufacturer of aerosol cans, in 1962, and bought Alarm Device Manufacturing Company (Ademco) in 1963. It received $16,558,000 for the sale of the streetcar system to the Port Authority in 1964. In 1967, it was renamed to Pittway Corporation. Later, Pittway became best known as a manufacturer and distributor of professional fire and burglar alarms and other security systems. On February 3, 2000, Pittway was acquired by Honeywell. PCC types Listed by delivery date: *1936: Number 100, *1937: 1000–1099, *1938: 1100–1199, *1940: 1200–1299, *1942: 1400–1499, *1945: 1500–1564, *1945: 1600–1699, *1948–9: 1700–1799. Several of the 1700 cars were rebuilt by PAT in 1981. *4000 (was 1702) *4001 (was 1720) *4003 (was 1740) *4004 (was 1739) *4005 (was 1719) *4006 (was 1767) *4007 (was 1729) *4008 (was 1709) *4009 (was 1700) *4010 (was 1757) *4011 (was 1733) *4012 (was 4000) *4013 (was 1762) Preservation Pre-PCC *3487(aka M132): Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways in 1905 by St. Louis Car Company. Converted to a wreck car in 1934. Converted back to passenger configuration in 1956. *4145: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways in 1911 in McKees Rocks by the Pressed Steel Car Company. *4140(aka M200): Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways in 1911 in McKees Rocks by the Pressed Steel Car Company, converted to a snow plow in 1940, then to a Tow car in 1955. *4398: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways in 1914 by St. Louis Car Company. *3756: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways in 1925 by Osgood Bradley Car Company. PCC *1138: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1936 by St. Louis Car Company. * 1440: Preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1942 by St. Louis Car Company. *1467: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1941 by St. Louis Car Company. *1644: Preserved at Northern Ohio Railway Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1945 by St. Louis Car Company. *1799(aka 1613): Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1945 by St. Louis Car Company as 1613. In 1979 it was overhauled and renumbered 1799. *1711: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1948 by St. Louis Car Company. *1724: Preserved at the Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh. A number of the later cars were rebuilt by the Port Authority of Allegheny County and passed into preservation. *4001: Static display in front of South Hills Village depot. *4002: Undergoing restoration at Pikes Peak Trolley Museum in Colorado Springs *4004: Preserved at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. *4006: Last seen in 2007 on west end of Detroit-Superior Bridge in Cleveland, labeled "Buckeye Trolley" *4007: Static exhibit in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania with numbers removed. *4008: Acquired by San Francisco MUNI for the F Market & Wharves line. *4009: Acquired by San Francisco MUNI for the F Market & Wharves line. *4011: Buckeye Lake, Ohio: private owner (derelict) *4012 (ex-4000): Buckeye Lake, Ohio: private owner (also derelict) Work Cars *M1: Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Originally built in 1890 by Pullman Car Company as an 8-wheel car for Pittsburgh, Allegheny & Manchester Street railway. Proving underpowered for Pittsburgh's hills, it was converted to a 4-wheel pay car in the 1890s. When Pittsburgh Railways was formed it was assigned the number M1 and continued service as a pay car. *M37: Snow sweeper, Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built in 1896 by McGuire Manufacturing Company as No. 9 for the Consolidated Traction Company. Upon the creation of Pittsburgh Railways it was renumbered M37. *M56(aka BV1): Snow sweeper, Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built in 1918 for the Philadelphia Company. It started service on the Beaver Valley traction line as #1. In 1935, due to money troubles, it was transferred to Pittsburgh Railways and renumbered M56. *M283: Crane car, Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1929 by Differential Car Company. *M551: Side-Dump car, Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built for Pittsburgh Railways Co. in 1922 by Differential Car Company. *M210: Line car, Preserved by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Built in 1940 by Pittsburgh Railways Co. in their Homewood shops using components salvaged from two other cars. Routes Routes operated by Pittsburgh Railways with date and fate. } | |First permanent electric line in Pittsburgh, Second Avenue Traction Co. Short turn of the 56. |- |58 |Greenfield | |by 1915}} | | |- |59 |Homeville – Homestead | | |Double-ended shuttle |- |60 |East Liberty-Homestead | | |Some cars extended to serve Kennywood Park, signed East Liberty-Kennywood |- |62 |Trafford | |by }} | | |- |63 |Trafford City Express | |by 1916}} | | |- |63 |Corey Avenue, Braddock | |by 1916}} | |by 1953}} |Double-ended shuttle |- |64 |East Pittsburgh via Wilkinsburg | |by 1915}} | | |- |65 |Hawkins and North Braddock | |by 1915}} | | |- |65 |Munhall-Lincoln Place | | | |- |66 |East and West Wilkinsburg via Forbes | |by 1915}} | | |- |67 |Swissvale, Rankin and Braddock | |by 1915}} | |Replaced by bus service 61B Braddock – Swissvale |- |68 |McKeesport via Homestead and Duquesne | |by 1915}} | |Served Kennywood Park. Longest line on the system (13.8 miles) |- |69 |Larimer via Ellsworth | |by 1915}} | | |- |69 |Squirrel Hill | | |Short turn of the 68 |- |70 |North Highland | |by 1915}} | | |- |71 |Centre and Negley | |by 1915}} | |Later called Negley-Highland Park |- |72 |Bloomfield via Forbes | |by 1915}} | | |- |73 |North Highland via Forbes | |by 1916}} | | |- |73 |Highland | | | |- |75 |Wilkinsburg via East Liberty | | | |- |76 |Wilkinsburg via Hamilton Avenue | |by 1915}} | |Signed simply as Hamilton. From Fifth and Market, along Fifth to Hamilton, to Brushton, to Tioga, to Wilkinsburg. |- |77 |Wilkinsburg via Fifth Avenue | |by 1915}} | | |- |77/54 |North Side to Carrick via Bloomfield | | |Fondly known as the "Flying Fraction". Cut back to loop on Seneca and Gist Streets July 8, 1963 due to repaving of Brady Street Bridge |- |78 |Wilkinsburg – Verona | |1901}} | |Originally the Wilkinsburg Verona Street Railway |- |78 |South Highland Avenue via Fifth | |by 1915}} | | |- |78 |Laketon Rd. | | |by 1953}} |Double end shuttle from Wilkinsburg to Highland Ave. This was a cutback of the line to Verona, Oakmont and Hulton |- |79 |Forbes, Shady and Penn | |by 1915}} | | |- |80 |East Pittsburgh via Braddock and Homestead | |by 1916}} | | |- |81 |Atwood Street | |by 1915}} | |September 8, 1951}} |Double-ended shuttle route with through downtown single-end cars in rush hours (outer end looped) |- |82 |East Liberty via Centre Avenue | |by 1915}} | | |- |82 |Lincoln | | | |- |83 |Centre and Herron | |by 1915}} | |Short turn of the 82 |- |84 |Centre and Larimer (night car) | |by 1915}} | | |- |85 |Wylie and Bedford | |by 1915}} | | |- |86 |East Liberty Express | |by 1915}} | | |- |87 |Ardmore | | |Second longest line on system (by 0.1 mile), at 13.7 miles. Line between Wilmerding and Wilkinsburg abandoned September 4, 1966 |- |88 |Frankstown Avenue | |by 1915}} | | |- |90 |Penn Avenue and West Wilkinsburg | |by 1915}} | | |- |92 |Shady Loop via Penn | |by 1916}} | | |- |94 |Sharpsburg and Aspinwall | |by }} | | |- |94 |Aspinwall | | |Closed during replacement of 62nd St. Sharpsburg Bridge with Senator Robert D. Fleming Bridge, which did not have streetcar tracks. |- |95 |Butler Street | | |Short turn of the 94; turned at 62nd & Butler |- |96 |Penn and Negley via Butler | |by 1915}} | | |- |96 |E. Liberty-62nd St. | | | |- |98 |Larimer via Penn | |by 1916}} | | |- |98 |Glassport | | |Closed following severe storm damage on August 3, 1963 |- |99 |Evans Ave Glassport | | |Double end shuttle from Glassport via Ohio Ave, 9th, Monongahela Ave, 5th Ave to Evans Ave. Became 98 Glassport |} A notable, unnumbered, tripper (unscheduled extra) service was signed Stadium-Forbes Field, for Pitt Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers football games and Pirates baseball games. Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field were convenient to the lines on Fifth Avenue and Forbes Avenue, both two-way streets during the trolley era. This service, which probably last ran in fall 1966, was no longer possible after the East End lines closed in January 1967. The Interurban lines did not use route numbers. Outbound interurban cars were signed for their outbound destination, namely Charleroi, Roscoe or Washington; some PCC rollsigns instead suffixed Shannon- to the destination, e.g. Shannon-Washington. Inbound cars were signed simply Pittsburgh. Car barns , where 1 – Spring Garden and 5 – Spring Hill once ran]] Pittsburgh Railways inherited many different car barns from the companies that formed it, many of which were closed during the final years prior to take over by the Port Authority. At the time of the PA takeover on February 28, 1964, only Craft Avenue, Keating and Tunnel (South Hills) remained as streetcar facilities, together with Homewood Shops, and a former carbarn in Rankin used only for dead storage of retired cars. Craft Avenue A large (~14 road) facility with several administration buildings at Craft Avenue and Forbes Avenue in Oakland. It served routes 50, 64, 66, 67, 68, 69, 75 and 81. Craft Avenue assumed storage duties for East End facilities that were closed such as Homewood, Herron Hill and Highland Park, as well as Carrick on the South Side; thus it eventually also served routes such as 22, 71, 73, 76, 77/54, 87 and 88. Craft Avenue ceased to be a streetcar facility on January 28, 1967 when all East End lines were converted to bus. The site is now occupied by the Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Glenwood Glenwood Car Barn served the 55, 56, 57, 58, 65 and 98 routes and housed approximately 54 cars. Homewood Homewood car barn was begun in 1900 and grew to be one of the two largest installations of Pittsburgh Railways, with 110 cars housed there. Also the site of PRC's heavy repair shops, it covered four blocks from 7100 to 7400 on the south side of Frankstown Avenue, bordered by North Lang Avenue to the west, Felicia Way to the south and Braddock to the east. In 1955 Barn No. 2 was destroyed by fire along with all of the equipment within it, which included fourteen PCC trolleys. Homewood car barn closed in 1960, though the shops remained in use until January 1967 when all East End lines were closed. The large site is now used for a mixture of residential and commercial premises, with the last remaining railway buildings converted first to a skating rink and then in 1997 to a bowling alley and entertainment venue called the Homewood Coliseum. Since 2000 the complex has also housed The Trolley Station Oral History Center. Ingram Ingram carbarn was the main storage facility in the West End. Located on Berry Street in Ingram Borough on routes 30 and 31, it also served routes 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 34. It consisted of a 4-road brick shed housing 20 cars, an 8-road open yard capable of holding about 120 cars, and a brick administration building. Ingram ceased as an active facility after June 21, 1959 when all the West End lines were abandoned after the Point Bridge was closed to traffic, although 30 1000- and 1100-series PCCs made surplus by the conversion were scrapped there. The property was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; the barn proper was converted in 1968 to the Church of the Ascension, while the yard office was converted to classrooms, parish offices and a parish hall. Keating Keating car house was built in 1921. It served routes 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 and 21. The remaining trolley routes from Manchester car house (6, 13, 14, 18 and 19) were moved to Keating in 1959. The final North Side trolleys (6/14 and 21) were transferred to South Hills Car House in 1965 and the facility became the bus-only Ross Garage. Millvale Millvale car barn was built on the site of the Graff, Bennett Mill which burnt down in 1900. It catered for services 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Plummer Street The car barn at 48th and Plummer Street in Lawrenceville served the 94 Aspinwall, 95 Butler Street, and 96 East Liberty via Morningside services. It replaced the Butler Street Cable and Horse car barn at 47th and Butler. It was closed in the summer of 1954, with services 94 Aspinwall and 95 Butler Street routes being assigned to Manchester Car House until June 1959. They then transferred to Keating Car House until replaced by bus routes on November 13, 1960. Service 96 East Liberty was transferred first to Bunker Hill car barn then Homewood Car House until June, 1960. It was then transferred to Craft Avenue car house, also being replaced by buses on November 13, 1960 when the 62nd St. Sharpsburg Bridge was closed. Tunnel The Tunnel (also referred to as South Hills) car barn, located along Curtis and Jasper Streets next to South Hills Junction and the south portal of the South Hills Tunnel, was the car storage facility for many, and eventually all, South Side lines, and one of the most important such facilities on the entire system. It consisted of a 4-road brick shed with administrative offices, plus a 6-road outdoor yard. While containing fewer tracks than yards like Craft Avenue, the length of the tracks allowed storage of many more cars per road, especially outdoors. Tunnel served lines 23, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 43 (later the 42/38), 44, 46 (later 49), 48, and later the 47 and 53 lines to Carrick, and the final North Side lines 6/14 and 21. It also shared storage duties for the two Interurban lines with the barns in Charleroi and in Tylerdale (Washington). As the nucleus of the surviving PAT trolley lines, Tunnel barn survived into the mid-1980s, when it was demolished after being replaced by the current PAT storage and maintenance facility at the end of the South Hills Village branch off the Drake line. West Park The West Park car barn in McKees Rocks was a large facility with two barns and several outdoor sidings. It was bounded by Third Street to the north, Chartiers Avenue to the south and Rox Street to the east. It closed in 1931, but remained a storage facility for scrap trolley parts. The building was demolished in 1951. A Foodland food market now occupies the southern part of the site, with new housing to the north. Gallery Image:PCC_uit_de_1600_serie_op_lijn_49_BELTZHOOVER.jpg|PCC 1604, route "49 – Beltzhoover" Image:PCC 1643 op de combinatielijn 44.48 KNOXVILLE ARLINGTON.jpg|PCC 1643, route 44/48 Image:PCC uit de 1700 serie op lijn 53 CARRICK.jpg|PCC on route "53 – Carrick" Image:PCC uit de 1700 serie op lijn 10 WEST VIEW.jpg|PCC 1791, route "10 West View Image:PittsburghColor1.jpg|PCC color scheme in Pittsburgh Image:PTTransit.jpg|Later PCC color scheme for Pittsburgh Port Authority Transit See also * Pittsburgh Light Rail References External links *Pittsburgh Railways Company *Charleroi Interurban *Finding aid to the Pittsburgh Railways Company Records at the Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh *Photographs from the Pittsburgh Railways Company Collection